Big Tech Helps Market Shake Three-Day Slump

Wall Street clawed back some of its losses from earlier in the week as pressure eases from the bond market Thursday:

• The Dow rose 201 points, or 0.5%, to 37,468.
• The S&P 500 rose 41points, or 0.8%, to 4,780.
• The tech-focused Nasdaq rose 200 points, or 1.3%, to 15,055.

Big Tech stocks helped to lead the way, including a 2.9% climb for Apple, per the AP. Fastenal, meanwhile, jumped 5.9% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 after the distributor of safety supplies, fasteners, and other products reported a bigger quarterly profit than analysts expected. They helped offset a 10.2% drop by insurer Humana after it warned that higher costs would eat into its profit. Also on the losing end of Wall Street were several financial companies that reported weaker results for the end of 2023 than analysts expected. Discover Financial Services fell 10.3%, and KeyCorp lost 5.7%.

Treasury yields swung up and down in the minutes after a report on Thursday morning showed the number of US workers applying for unemployment benefits fell last week to its lowest level since two Septembers ago. That's good news for workers and for the economy overall, which has so far powered through predictions for a recession, but a stronger-than-expected job market could also keep upward pressure on inflation. That would lessen the chances of the Federal Reserve cutting rates as soon as its March meeting.

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